HB 149: "An Act relating to the management of salmon fisheries; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 149 01 "An Act relating to the management of salmon fisheries; and providing for an 02 effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. PURPOSE. (a) This Act provides that in an area of intense common 05 consumptive use fishing activity, after maintenance of salmon stocks at sustained yield levels 06 is assured, subsistence, personal use, and sport fisheries shall receive a preference to take a 07 portion of the harvestable surplus of salmon stocks in the area. Subsistence, personal use, and 08 sport fisheries must be ensured a reasonable opportunity to take enough salmon to satisfy the 09 harvest needs of those fisheries before other fisheries may be allocated the remaining portion 10 of the harvestable surplus of salmon. 11 (b) This Act is subject to AS 16.05.258 and does not alter existing or establish new 12 allocations or preferences among subsistence, personal use, and sport fisheries. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05 is amended by adding new sections to article 5 to read: 14 Sec. 16.05.735. Management of Alaska salmon stocks. (a) The Board of
01 Fisheries and the department shall maintain all wild Alaska salmon stocks at sustained 02 yield levels. 03 (b) The Board of Fisheries shall adopt regulations establishing methods and 04 means of taking salmon that protect salmon spawning and rearing habitat from damage 05 that may, individually or cumulatively, result in significant reduction in the 06 productivity of salmon stocks. 07 Sec. 16.05.740. Preference for common consumptive use fisheries. (a) 08 Notwithstanding AS 16.05.251(e), in a fishing area where the average estimated 09 common consumptive use fishing effort for all fishery resources exceeds 500,000 10 angler-days per year for the preceding three years, the Board of Fisheries and the 11 department shall exercise their respective authorities under this title to reserve, to the 12 extent technically feasible, a portion of the harvestable surplus of each salmon stock 13 taken in the area to provide a harvest priority to common consumptive use fisheries 14 that take the stock in the area. The number of salmon reserved for common 15 consumptive use fisheries shall provide a reasonable opportunity for these fisheries to 16 take all salmon that is necessary for each common consumptive use fishery in the area 17 to satisfy its harvest needs. A salmon stock may not be allocated to a commercial 18 fishery at any point along its migration route unless the board and the department have 19 determined that the portion of the stock reserved under this subsection to satisfy the 20 harvest needs of a common consumptive use fishery will be available for harvest by 21 that common consumptive use fishery. 22 (b) The total number of salmon, without regard to the species of salmon, 23 reserved to satisfy the harvest needs of personal use and sport fisheries under this 24 section may not exceed five percent of the projected total statewide harvest of salmon. 25 Personal use and sport fisheries in a fishing area may take more than five percent of 26 a particular salmon species or stock and may take more than five percent of the total 27 harvest of salmon in the area. 28 (c) In this section, 29 (1) "common consumptive use" means the taking of fish under laws 30 governing subsistence, personal use, or sport fishing; 31 (2) "fishing area" means the saltwater and freshwater areas of a
01 commercial fisheries management area that 02 (A) is established by the Board of Fisheries for the management 03 of commercial fisheries; and 04 (B) consists of fishing districts, subdistricts, or sections; 05 (3) "harvest needs" means the number of fish of a stock that is 06 reasonably expected to be harvested by a fishery given the laws governing the fishery, 07 the projected participation in the fishery, and the projected harvestable surplus of the 08 stock; 09 (4) "harvest priority" means a preference accorded to a fishery in order 10 to allow the fishery to satisfy its harvest needs; 11 (5) "harvestable surplus" means the portion of a fish stock that is 12 available for harvest after biological escapement of sufficient fish to maintain the stock 13 at sustained yield levels is assured; 14 (6) "salmon" means a fish of any of the five species of Pacific salmon 15 that originated in or will return to spawn in the waters of the state; 16 (7) "stock" means a group of interbreeding individuals of a fish species 17 that possesses common characteristics, including area of origin, migration patterns, run 18 timing, and habitat. 19 * Sec. 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.